"Remember, your injuries are healed but I wouldn't be running out there and pushing yourself to the limit just yet. Just take it easy for a few days, and you should be fine."
Macintosh smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
The doctor smiled back, returning a nod and turning to his desk, writing on some papers. "Alright. Well, you just go on home and take it easy for a day or two, and you'll be ready to seize the day. Remember, don't strain yourself too much. Hate for ya to rebreak something."
With a polite farewell, Macintosh had his coat back on and stepped out of the doctor's office. Back on the streets of Ponyville, he stretched his hooves in confidence for the first time in a while. It had been a week and a half since his adventure in the castle of the sisters, and quite frankly he was pleased to have it behind him, and looking forward to the normalcy that came with life. As he trotted, however, he was joined by a somewhat unexpected companion.
"Why hello, Macintosh!"
Big Mac looked to the side and smiled at a familiar blue mare in an elegant, purple dress as she approached him. "It is nice to see you finally removed the bandages?" It seemed to be phrased as a question; likely, she was inquiring as to if he were well.
"Eeyup," said Big Mac with a nod. This elicited a giggle from Nightingale, though Macintosh wasn't sure what was so funny about a bill of good health, he supposed it was a good sign anyway.
"Well, that's good to hear. Say, would you indulge me in a walk?" Macintosh responded with a light nod, and the two ponies started a walk at a leisurely pace through the streets of Ponyville. They would get the occasional look from others, though none seemed to focus too long. Macintosh knew in his heart that many were questioning why a noble would walk so close to a commoner such as himself. Still, what they thought was of no concern to him. Nightingale gave him a sideways glance, speaking the first words after a bit of silence. "My uncle was a bit disappointed in your denial of his offer." It was a simple statement; there was no malice in it, in fact, she seemed more curious than anything.
"It was a kind offer... but we love our home too much to just give it up... even partially."
"But Macintosh, think of all you could have." She stepped in front of him, stopping his progress with her presence and a smile. "You could be wealthy, healthy, and provide endlessly for your family. Your grandmother would have the best care money could buy, your baby sister would never work a day in her life..."
Macintosh smirked a bit, shaking his head. "Sometimes a day's honest work is good for the soul."
The comment seemed to confuse Nightingale, who stared at Big Mac with a quirked brow. "So..." she said, as if trying to wrap her mind around what he said. "... Are you saying you like to work?"
Macintosh shrugged a bit. "Sometimes." He didn't consider himself a workaholic of any description, but for Big Mac, working was more than just a tedious chore for income.
Nightingale stared at him for a moment, still seeming confused. A soft smile seemed to build on her face though. "You are a noble pony, Macintosh. Nobler than most who consider themselves such by birth." This made Big Mac blush a bit, though it might be hard to notice beneath his red coat.
"Shucks, Miss Nightingale."
"And stop calling me miss," she giggled, bumping her flank against his, "I like to think we're close enough that you can just call me Nightingale... my uncle calls me Gale sometimes." Macintosh seemed to consider this, and responded with a polite nod.
"Alright, Gale."
Nightingale let out a soft yawn, shaking her head a bit. Big Mac quirked a brow. "Didn't get much sleep last night?"
"Nope," the mare said, imitating his voice poorly before giggling. "... I don't most nights. I consider myself a night pony. I work better in the night than during the day."
Macintosh nodded. "Some ponies are like that. My cousin would tell you the same, though he don't work then either, jus' goes to bars and flirts with mares." Nightingale tried to stifle a second yawn, to which Macintosh responded with a little smirk. "You go on home then. Take yourself a nap." Nightingale seemed to consider this, but responded with a gentle nod.
"Yes, I suppose I've been working hard enough to deserve a nap." She leaned up and placed a soft peck on Macintosh's cheek, eliciting another (yet unseen) blush. "Fare well, Macintosh! I may visit you later tonight, if you're around." The mare turned about, and made her way off, leaving Macintosh alone once more. Bereft of a conversation partner, he started his trot home.
The walk was thankfully uneventful for Macintosh. As he made it into his home, he was greeted by a thankful sight; no Twilight Sparkle, no Fluttershy, no Pinkie Pie, no Braeburn... this was one of those rare days that he needed. Where he could end the day quietly, with no worries, no concerns, no end-of-the-world terrors, nothing.
It meant he could get some work done and forget the past month.
He removed his coat and set it on the coat hanger, leaving only his favorite shirt on. He made his way out of the farm house and towards the barn, pushing the doors open. Inside was a cart he had been wanting to use for weeks, with several empty baskets inside. Hitching the cart to his yoke, he made his way out past the fields, into the orchards.
For hours, he bucked apples from trees into the baskets. When one basket filled, he started filling another. If all baskets filled, he would return to the shed and grab more. It was technically an off day, but he hadn't actually done any real work since he first went to the Everfree. He needed to work.
For now, it was therapy.
The sun had started to set by the time he finally stopped, and had made his way to the barn to place his last harvesting for the day. The sweat on his face told him he had done good, and the ache in his muscle was the welcome burn of work, not of injury.
As he made his way inside for his dinner, he felt happy. Maybe now, his life could return to some degree of normalcy.
The meal was good. Big Mac expected nothing less from his granny. His cousin would talk about whatever he heard over the course of the day, while Macintosh and Granny would humor him with nods or scold him for bad conversation topics at the table and in front of Apple Bloom. When he was finished with his meal, Macintosh decided to finish the day early and made his way up the stairs of his home, into the upstairs hallway, and towards his bedroom. The door beckoned him with its siren song, promising comfort, peace, a night of rest where he had nothing to worry about. He almost cried tears of joy just thinking of it. Slowly, he reached for the knob. His hoof touched it. He turned.
He heard a knock at the door. His granny was cleaning dishes, Braeburn likely helping, and Apple Bloom likely already off to her own devices. Macintosh let out a sad, defeated sigh. "I got it!" He turned about and made his way back down the stairs, and towards the front door, setting aside his desperate desire for a peaceful sleep and putting a smile on his face as he pushed it open. The smile on his face drooped just a bit when he saw Twilight standing on the other side, though she was quick to step past him and into the house, shutting the door behind them and closing a nearby curtain. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but she spoke before he could utter a syllable.
"Before you ask, can we get to the cellar?" Her voice was tense, and she seemed on edge. "I really, really would like to see what's in the cellar."
Braeburn happened to peak his head in at the time. "Oh? I can show you the cellar!"
"No," she said way too abruptly, but she corrected herself, "No, thanks, but I want Macintosh to show me. The cellar."
Braeburn raised a brow, but smirked nonetheless. "Ohhh, I see. Don't mind me, you two. Just, ah... don't make too much noise?" Macintosh blinked a few times, utterly confused. He lead Twilight towards the basement door, pushing it open. She was quick to hurry in and drag him with her, and close the door back. As the mare hurried down the stairs, he followed, wondering what was going on. She turned to him, igniting a lantern she had pulled from her saddlebag and setting it on the floor.
"We're being watched."
"What?"
"Watched!" Twilight said, waving her hooves around, looking towards both exits. "For the past week, I've noticed things happening. Trees moving around, things in my house being moved, and-and-and--"
"Twilight," he said with a little more firmness than he probably intended. The mare stopped panicking, looking at him, panting and heaving. "Miss Twilight... calm down. Are ya sure yer bein' watched? Maybe ya just moved things around an' forgot about 'em? Maybe wind blew 'em around?"
Twilight grimaced hard. "Oh, sure, what kind of wind is going to blow a globe from one table to another?" Macintosh didn't respond, taking a moment to consider that. "I'm not talking papers Macintosh, I'm talking things that have no business being moved around! Things that have been in the same spots for long periods of time! I found my bedsheets on the floor when I came home from shopping, and books were scattered around!"
Big Mac didn't readily know how to respond to any of that. He imagined she would remember doing these things. He placed a hoof to his chin, tapping a few times in thought. "Well," he said, raising a brow, "Are the elements okay?"
"Yes," she said with a nod and a sigh. "I left them in a special safe only I can open, so I cannot imagine anypony will be able to get to them without pulling that safe from the wall, and even then they'd have a safe they can't gain entry to." Twilight seemed to fall silent for a moment, before she turned from Macintosh and began to pace in small circles. "I've done some research on our other targets... the family of nomads were likely a group of ponies Celestia had run into during her travels. I couldn't find any recorded documents of Celestia having any children or siblings beyond Nightmare Moon herself, but my sources indicate there is a pony who claims to be descended from ancient royalty..."
Big Mac watched this mare pace frantically back and forth as she continued to pace silently for the next few seconds, her eyes on the floor and her mind on matters that seemed above his head. "So," he said with a nod, "How we gonna find 'em?"
Twilight stopped, looking up at Big Mac. "Well, I just have to figure out where our self-proclaimed 'prince' is currently hiding before I can approach him. The nomads might take time without knowing more about them and being able to discern a possible relation..." The next few minutes were quiet. Macintosh simply looked around the room at the various things they kept there; some barrels of cider, Big Mac's work bench and tools, nothing that he hadn't seen before of course. 'This whole thing is way over my head' he thought, trying to ignore the biting feeling of concern he got over the whole scenario.
"Big Mac," said Twilight, drawing his attention back to the mare, "If anypony questions you about anything unusual, like the Elements of Harmony or the castle of the sisters or anything, feign ignorance and come to my house as soon as you are able. Trust nopony, not friends, not family, not Mister Rich or Nightingale, nopony."
Big Mac raised a brow. "Why not trust the Riches?"
"Because," said Twilight, turning to face him, "I'm pretty sure he knows I'm keeping something from him. He's not a bad pony, but he's a shrewd business-pony, and if he learns I'm holding out on him, he'll almost certainly force me to choose between losing the elements or losing access to his resources." Big Mac pondered that for a moment. He supposed it made sense that Rich would want a piece of whatever his help was going into, and while he would normally be happy to oblige in that sort of thing, this wasn't quite something any of them had any right to offer him.
Macintosh turned his gaze back to Twilight, who stared at him with an expression of urgency. She really meant what she said, and he could tell that she took this whole situation seriously. That she took him seriously. Big Mac offered a nod in response. "I won't tell a soul."
"Excellent." Twilight nodded towards him, and sighed a bit, relaxing some, at least as relaxed as she might typically be. The mare made her way up the stairs, and Big Mac followed. As they stepped from the basement, Twilight stopped and looked at something on a nearby shelf; a photo. A very familiar, very dear photo of two ponies. One a stallion of a rust-red color with white-furred fetlocks and muzzle, orange eyes, and a yoke around his neck, and a yellow coated mare with green eyes, freckles, and orange hair. She looked at the photo for a moment, almost entranced.
"My ma and pa," said Big Mac with a nod and a proud smile. "Nicest ponies you'd ever meet..." Twilight stared at that photo for a few seconds in silence. Macintosh looked a the photo himself. He was proud of his parents and loved them dearly, but even now he still felt that twinge of sadness looking at the old photos. He let out a sigh, shaking his head. "An' the best parents that ever were."
A few more seconds of silence passed, before Twilight broke it. "Macintosh... I... I feel I owe you an apology." Big Mac raised a brow in confusion, the ear adjacent to Twilight perking up. "When we first met... I... said some things that were uncalled for. Some things that... having spent time around you, I feel, were wrong."
Big Mac snorted. "Didn't you already apologize for this?"
"I did," said Twilight in acknowledgement, "but it was a forced apology. Fluttershy is... very persuasive..." She chuckled a bit at that, though it was a mirthless one. "... That's why I feel I owe you a more sincere one. It was irrational of me to assume what I did... and you didn't deserve any of it, even if at the time I would have said otherwise."
It was a bit unexpected to hear her apologize as sincerely as she seemed to be able. Big Mac smiled a bit, eyes back on the photo in front of him. "It's alright. I'm used to those assumptions by now." This seemed to make the mare curious, she looked towards him, one brow quirked, the edges of her mouth pulling slightly down. Still, she decided it best not to prod upon that for now. She cleared her throat and nodded.
"Well," she said looking towards a nearby clock, "I suppose I should make my way back before it gets too late."
Big Mac turned his attention to the clock, noticing it was already almost seven. "Ya sure? It'll be dark by the time you get to the mountain." He smiled a bit and gestured towards the stairs. "We got a guest room if'n ya want. Be no trouble."
Twilight suddenly seemed very tense. She placed a hoof on the rim of her hat and cleared her throat. "Ah, no, that won't be necessary thank you. I'll just walk at a canter, I should get home before it gets too late." She sighed a bit, rolling her eyes. "Besides, Spike has been waging war against Owlowiscious lately. Last time I left him alone for the day I came home to find a bunch of toy mice thrown about covered in ketchup."
Macintosh nodded in acknowledgement of her choice. "Well, if'n ya change yer mind, offer stands."
The two walked to the door, and just as Big Mac opened it, they were both taken by surprise to see none other than Nightingale standing on the other side, holding her hoof up as if ready to knock. Big Mac smiled. "Oh, hello Nightingale."
The mare, however, simply stared at Big Mac and Twilight. "Uh... hello Macintosh... I..." Whatever she had ready to say stopped at her tongue, and she paused for a moment before clearing her throat. Macintosh couldn't help but notice the mare was a little tense, leaving him to wonder if she were being watched too. "I... I had something I wanted to say and forgot all about it... I'm sorry if I was interrupting anything...?"
Big Mac simply shook his head. "Not at all. Miss Sparkle was just leavin'."
"Yeah," said Twilight with a nod, before looking to Big Mac and giving another silent nod towards him. "I'll see you when I see you, Macintosh." The mare stepped around Nightingale, and started on her way down the road. Nightingale had her attention once more on Big Mac, smiling, though something about the smile seemed unusual.
"So... Twilight. I didn't know you two were friends?"
Big Mac pondered a moment, pouting his lips. "Well... we're friendly acquaintances..."
"I see, I see..." said the mare, nodding, looking once more down the road. "So... there's... nothing going on between you two?"
Macintosh was confused for a moment, but then it struck on him what she was implying. "Oh! Nope, she's just helpin' me with some things."
Nightingale seemed quiet a moment. He couldn't tell, but Macintosh was certain that for a moment, she seemed almost contemptuous, although it was only for a moment. With a sigh and a nod, Nightingale's eyes were back on him. "Okay... yes, I suppose it was a bit... hasty of me to assume anything. I suppose I was not aware you two had business together and I drew some rather quick conclusions."
"It's alright," said Macintosh, another simple nod to confirm his own statement. "Easy mistake to make."
The two ponies were quiet for a moment, which he assumed was mostly Nightingale trying to gather herself. With another sigh, she turned her eyes back to him and smiled weakly. "... I had come here wondering if you had any plans for tomorrow?" Macintosh seemed confused, to which she held her hoof up. "I wished to invite you to my home for dinner." Big Mac held a hoof up to say something, but the words did not leave him before she could interrupt him. "Before you say anything, it's no trouble. And, I'm afraid that this is just a date for us, so it will be just the two of us. So, does that sound agreeable?"
Macintosh pondered upon it for a moment. Ordinarily, he felt stallions should ask mares to dates, cook for them, etc. However, he also knew he didn't have the coin or the resources she did, so any date he could offer her was novel compared to what she could do. He had momentarily considered rejecting her offer, but then he considered what Braeburn had said before. 'I'm not sure how I feel about her just yet... but I suppose dinner wouldn't hurt. After all, she's a nice enough pony...'
"Alright," he said with a nod, "I'll be there. Just gotta tell Granny."
Nightingale smiled and nodded in confirmation. "Excellent! Shall we say.... seven? Eight?"
"Seven sounds nice."
"Great!" The mare smiled more, leaning forward and placing a gentle peck on Big Mac's lips, though not lingering. She turned and started down the path, off the farm. He watched ler leave, keeping his eyes on her. Once she was out of sight, he shook his head, feeling as if he was waking up from being stupefied. It never ceased to amaze him how every time she was near his whole world seemed to focus on her. Deep down, he pondered if maybe Braeburn was right? What if this was love?
'A mystery for another time' he thought as he made his way back into his house.
The trip back home had been uneventful. Uneventful was good. It meant nothing had happened, and that she was at least relatively safe.
Twilight trod the path of the mountains carefully. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that she was absolutely safe from anything, but she was smart enough to know that if anypony had any intention of doing anything, they likely wouldn't wait long once she was in the mountain. She pushed the front gate to the ancient house open, closing it back behind her as she approached it. 'Only a few more steps' she thought to herself as she came closer to the house. She reached the door, and placing a hoof on it, pressed it open. As she stepped inside, she was quick to shut and bolt the door behind her.
"Safe," she said to herself out loud, with a sigh of relief.
"Why? Something dangerous out there egghead?"
Twilight almost jumped out of her skin and turned to face the one who had addressed her. She was approached by a mare, dressed in a dirty grey coat, a pair of goggles on her head, and a leather vest on her barrel. She was a pegasus, leaning against a wall, eating from an apple (likely stolen from Twilight's pantry) ,although that wasn't the thing that stood out most of her; rather, it was her strange, rainbow-colored mane.
"You must be an heir of the Rainbow family," said Twilight, hoping that she understood enough about pegasus history to land right on the mark. "Cloudsdale Nobility? High blooded pegasi?"
The mare blinked a few times and smirked. "Didn't expect an Earther to know anything about Cloudsdale, let alone about noble families... impressive." She held up the apple she was eating, taking another big bite from it, chewing on it. "So, you know I'm a pretty big deal?"
Twilight grinned inwardly, though she kept her expression level and stoic as she could. "Not if you're down here, you're not."
The mare pursed her lips and gave a nod. "Fair 'nuff. I suppose I did technically lose my title coming down here..." She took another bite from her apple, lacking the common courtesy of not talking with her mouth full, she continued. "You'd think the rules'd be different, but apparently they're actually harsher in this case, because now I'm a shame of my clan."
Twilight grimaced. "You don't sound bothered by this."
The mare laughed, throwing her half-finished apple on the floor. "Why should I be? I chose to come down here." She stepped slowly towards Twilight, her grin calm, relaxed, and yet menacing. She stopped just in front of Twilight, staring the mare in the eyes. "After all, there's only so much fun to be had in Cloudsdale. Down here, I'm only limited by my imagination." She paused a moment, pursing her lips together. "And I suppose the edges of the continent...? I hear it's pretty cold up north too...." She waved a hoof around.
Twilight, however, was feeling more than a little irritated, and an equal measure of worried of why this pegasus was in her home. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
"Who, me?" The mare put a hoof on her chest. "I'm nopony you need to worry yourself about..." She grinned a bit, arrogance seeping into her expression. "I mean, I am a pretty big deal, but that's kinda why you not knowin' is good for the both of us. Last thing we need is you peein' yourself and me having to kill you for knowing too much."
Twilight's expression became dangerous.
"You can try."
The mare grinned at her, meeting her eyes. That gaze, that cold, piercing gaze. Rainbow's grin fell a bit. She shook her head, glaring back. "Look here, egghead, I'm not here to make threats. I'm just here to collect something. Something I'm told you have."
Twilight stared at this strange, rainbow maned pegasus quietly. She had a pretty good idea what she was after, but she didn't want to say more than she had to. Worse yet, no matter what she was after, it would only bring up more questions. How did she know? Who sent her?
"The book," she said, nodding. "Give it to me."
The book? Why would she want the book? As alarms went off in Twilight's head, she recalled Big Mac's story of being attacked by pegasi. 'But those weren't pegasi, they were bat-ponies,' she thought. "What book?"
The mare only rolled her eyes. "Oh for-- really?" Twilight didn't respond. The mare stared at her a moment. "You know very well which book." Twilight was quiet, and she watched the mare's face twist. There it was. Doubt. 'She has no idea what she's even here for,' Twilight thought to herself. She began to devise a plan. It would likely only be temporary, but it would allow her time to consider alternatives, set up defenses, disappear, whatever she had to do.
"The book with the weird, Old Equestrian script, dweeb."
Twilight growled inwardly. She turned to see another mare-- no, wait, that wasn't a mare. It was a gryphon. Dressed in a black, skin-tight jacket with a hood over her head, allowing only her beak and piercing yellow eyes to peak out from it. "Dash, you gotta remember this stuff, otherwise somepony's liable to pull a fast one on you."
Dash rolled her eyes, however, grimacing at the gryphon. "Well, Gilda, thanks for telling her my name first of all. Secondly, I remembered the thing about the letters." She snorted, shaking her head. "All the other books here are either sciency things, chapter books, and the occasional dirty novel..."
Twilight blushed madly. "Wha-you went through my pri--" She stopped, looking around, and leaning inwardly, whisper-shouting. "You went through my private selection!?"
All at once, Twilight was slammed against a wall, the gryphon pinning her with one foreleg and the other holding a dagger. Dash seemed authentically surprised, but the gryphon's eyes screamed horrible things. Twilight's heart beat a million miles an hour as the gryphon stared into her soul with those eyes. "Listen here, trash. We're not playing around. You give us that book, and we leave, and nopony gets hurt. Don't give us the book...?" The knife slashed forward, causing Twilight to yelp as it cut into her cheek. "And we get unpleasant."
"Gilda--"
"Dash, not now," shouted the gryphon without looking back, "we're on the clock, and we can't wait forever for you to talk her into giving us the book!" Twilight looked back to see that Dash seemed... hesitant? But she did not seem like she would step in. Twilight gulped, thinking to herself of her options.
"M-My saddlebag," she said as evenly as she could. "I-it's in my saddlebag..."
"Dash."
Dash walked towards Twilight, and stuck her hoof in Twilight's bags. She was quick to pull out a text, on it's spine letters that neither mare... or... whatever... understood. "This has gotta be it," Dash said, turning it over a bit. "Really kinda... old." She opened the book, eyes scanning over the contents. "Ugh. Can he read this stuff or something? Because it's all written in gibberish."
"Dash," said Gilda tensely, "just take the book so we can leave." Dash simply nodded, putting the book underneath her coat, likely in a hidden pocket, and nodding. "Good." The pressure on Twilight ended, and she fell to the floor with a thud. Gilda nodded towards the lavender mare. "You really are smart. Let's just hope you're lucky and we never have to see each other again."
The gryphon nodded towards the pegasus, and both made their way to the door, pulling it open and stepping out, shutting it back behind them. Twilight watched them leave. She lay there for a few minutes on the floor, and put a hoof up to her face, over her cut. It stung, and as she drew it back, she saw a small spot of blood stain it.
Her first thought was to curl into a ball and cry. However, her second thought halted that before it could begin.
"Spike!?"
Her energy returned, Twilight hopped to her hooves and ran up the stairs. "Spike? Spike!" She shouted her charge's name as she hurried about the house, looking in every room, in her tower, in a broom closet, but no luck. After several minutes, she felt her heart sink. She hurried back down the stairs. "Spike!? Please, say something!"
"Twilight?"
It was faint, but she could hear it. "Spike!? Where are you!?"
She heard sounds coming from the kitchen of pots and pans being moved around, and was quick to hurry in that direction, seeing Spike climb from out of a cupboard, spilling cookery out that he had likely used to hide himself as best he could. The two quickly rushed towards each other, jumping into a strong hug. "Oh Twilight, it was so scary," shouted Spike, tears in his eyes, "I-I heard them arguing in your room, a-and I ran down here and hid in the cupboards, and... and..."
Twilight shushed him gently, holding him tighter and rocking him back and forth gently. "Shh.... it's okay Spike.... they're gone now...."
"I heard you scream..." he whimpered, clutching her coat tighter, "I... I thought.... I....." His mouth moved quietly, trying to find the words, and instead he opted to bury his face into her chest. Twilight gently stroked his back.
"It's okay, Spike," she whispered as assuredly as she could, "I'm fine..." She gulped a bit, ignoring the slight sting on her cheek as her own tears crossed paths with it. "... We're going to be okay... we're going to be just.... fine..."
'But they have the book.'
Those words. She thought these words. She knew they were important. Maybe even more important than she was. Than Spike was.
But at this moment? This was the most important thing in the world to her. She held the small dragon close as he silently cried into her coat.
TO BE CONTINUED...